Sexual assault reports rise sharply on UW campuses; but is it more awareness?

Campuses across the University of Wisconsin system are receiving a growing number of sexual assault reports. Officials say that may be a sign awareness efforts are working.
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

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University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point students Kat Wojner, left, and Kaylee Roberts prepare candles for an event on the university's campus which was a part of the National Vigil and Day of Action for Survivors of Sexual Assault in Stevens Point, Wis., on Thursday, October 19, 2017.(Photo: Alexandra Wimley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)Buy Photo

Aubrey replayed the sequence in her mind after the assault happened, to the point where she couldn't sleep.

She had told him "no" but his advances continued. He said he wanted to kiss her. Then, she said, he touched her in ways she didn't want and didn't tell him he could.

She told a friend afterward that she had been sexually assaulted in her campus suite. Then, a few days after that Labor Day weekend, Aubrey filed a report with authorities at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where she is a sophomore. She said she didn't want it to happen to someone else.

"Aubrey" is a pseudonym. Because she's a sexual assault accuser in an ongoing case, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin is withholding her name. But her report, repeated in text messages to a friend that contain graphic details, puts her among a sharply rising number of people who've told UW System campus authorities they were sexually assaulted.

Although such reports at Wisconsin's four-year public universities have been climbing for more than a decade, the pace has especially picked up in recent years. Assaults reported to the UW schools each year have more than doubled from 2013 to 2016.

UW-Green Bay received 44 reports of assaults in 2016 — equal to the previous three years combined. UW-Madison logged 539 assault reports in 2015 and 2016, nearly double the two previous years.

One high-profile case involved a former UW-Madison student whom prosecutors have called a "sexual predator" and charged with assaulting multiple women. But most cases have drawn little public notice, as has the spike in reports across UW campuses.

Most of the statewide increase has involved off-campus assaults, which generally means at properties not owned or controlled by a university, or adjacent to a university. But reports of on-campus assaults at the System's 13 four-year schools have increased, too, by 44 percent since 2013.

Citing studies that show sexual assault is an underreported crime, campus officials have cautioned against concluding that the increase in reports means there are more student-related crimes. Their statistics also count cases involving years-old assaults, such as students who report being victims of childhood abuse.

Campus officials and advocates around the state said the increase might more accurately reflect shifting attitudes toward sexual assault and steps to encourage victims to report the crimes.

Officials from several UW schools said they believe more should be done to expand student awareness of what constitutes sexual assault and what campus resources are available.

Stephanie Kitzerow, a campus victim advocate at UW-Oshkosh, said some students last year didn’t visit her office until they were referred months after being assaulted. The delay signaled that students didn’t know enough about campus resources when they needed them most. UW-Oshkosh officials said they are working to expand awareness.

Jessica King, a campus victim advocate in central Wisconsin, said she believes UW-Stevens Point has improved its reporting process and now more effectively connects students with services.

“(It is) not that assaults are happening more but that people are feeling safe and they understand what resources are there for them to be safe on campus,” said King, who works for a nonprofit called CAP Services.

Power to the victims

Aubrey said she approached authorities at UW-Stevens Point to tell her story earlier this fall because she didn't feel she could remain silent.

"I don't want him to think this was OK, because it wasn't consensual at all," she said.

Reporting the assault was empowering, she said, because she had control of the experience. University officials invited her for a meeting to learn about the resources available to her, such as adjusting her class assignments to help her recover. They also offered to ban from campus the 22-year-old alumnus who assaulted her, she said.

Aubrey said she also filed a report with local police, who are now investigating her allegations. No one has been arrested or charged.

All incoming UW-Stevens Point students are required to complete an online course about sexual assault. Last year it was called "Consent and Respect." This year it is called "Think About It."

UW-Stevens Point logged 13 reports of on-campus sexual assault last year, the highest number in at least a decade and equaling the two previous years combined.

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University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point students Brooke Rebisch, left, and Kat Wojner prepare to release balloons in honor of victims of sexual assault during an event on the university's campus which was a part of the National Vigil and Day of Action for Survivors of Sexual Assault in Stevens Point, Wis., on Thursday, October 19, 2017.(Photo: Alexandra Wimley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

'Big jump in our statistics'

UW-Green Bay received a grant in 2015 for a part-time health educator and a "Consent is Sexy" poster series, both aimed at reducing sexual violence and helping victims report the crimes, said Mark Olkowski, associate dean of students.

"We did see a big jump in our statistics (last year) because we really worked hard to put the word out there. We want the reports to come in. We want to help," Olkowski said. "They (students) feel pretty confident about speaking out against it. I hope that helps to develop the culture that we are not going to put up with this."

UW-Green Bay participated in a pilot study in 2015 that found most students believed the university takes sexual assault seriously and doesn’t tolerate sexual harassment. However, the study also found about half of female and a third of male students didn't know campus procedures for reporting a sexual assault.

Olkowski said the campus will participate in another study next year to gauge whether it's making progress.

Some cases investigated by UW-Green Bay have already led to changes in training. In 2010, a sexual assault at a campus apartment involving two soccer players was first reported to a resident life assistant rather than a trained investigator.

Olkowski said the two players, while suspended from the team, were found not responsible for the alleged assault. Still, the report prompted the campus to require more staff training on how to handle sexual assault cases, Olkowski said.

At both Green Bay and Stevens Point, university officials say they're now training students involved in sports, fraternities, sororities and other campus organizations on how to intervene as bystanders to prevent or report assault.

'Very lost and very alone'

At UW-Stevens Point, Aubrey said she encourages survivors to come forward and tell their stories. She said the university was supportive and responded quickly; it also followed up with her to see how she was doing.

Menard said that after she reported being sexually assaulted, she felt lost waiting for answers and updates about her case. She said she struggled to obtain adequate counseling when she needed it.

"I felt very lost and very alone," she said.

Menard said she worked with campus officials including Troy Seppelt, a top administrator, to urge changes in sexual assault reporting to ensure victims' needs are met.

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Katie Menard, a former University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student, speaks on the university's campus on Monday, September 18, 2017 in Stevens Point, Wis., about her experience with sexual assault.(Photo: Alexandra Wimley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

Seppelt said the university’s current efforts on sexual assault are successful, but UW-Stevens Point leaders also are looking for new ways to connect with students. For example, new athletes this year must complete bystander intervention training, the football team will discuss masculinity and interpersonal violence, and theater students performed a play in October about sexual assault.

Menard said reporting an assault always will be a challenge, but having support for survivors will make it easier.

"It's (about) really listening to the survivor individually, not seeing them as a number, but seeing them as a person and as a survivor who has gone through something traumatic," she said.